Talk:2325: Endorheic Basin

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 21:13, 27 June 2020 by 172.69.63.169 (talk) (Trying to add a signature)
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I think it is a funny comic, but the way water acts towards Beret Guy has nothing to do with what happens in an Endorheic basin. And also if he attracts water more than gravity, then a siphon is no help at all to get rid of the water. A pump would be needed that could make a larger pull then gravity. But the name is just something Beret Guy gives it. And since he is the only hydrophilic person in the world it is hard to say how it will work for him. But given that Randall named the comic it seems to me that either he did not care about this, did not think about it correctly, or else, also a possibility, I do not understand these concepts well enough --Kynde (talk) 22:49, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

I sort of disagree with Kynde. I think the idea here is that Beret Guy is a local low point where water flows toward. It's not that he's "more attractive that gravity" but that from the perspective of the water he's now the lowest point around and thus it flows toward him. Like a Endorheic basin it can't flow out to somewhere else. This makes the siphon comment funnier in my opinion as they're suggesting that if then found an even lower point than Beret Guy they could siphons water off of him and to that lower point. Something that the water wouldn't do on its own because of "walls" in his water potential function. 162.158.63.172 23:23, 26 June 2020 (UTC)Max

Do we have a category for comics where Randal is suspected of trolling the explainxkcd community? 108.162.245.132 00:32, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

"All Comics"? 162.158.158.167 00:43, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

"Generating Electricity" is most likely a reference to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qattara_Depression_Project

Qatarra makes sense; my first thought was the Salton Sea. It's certainly not a Minecraft reference, since rivers in Minecraft are flat (same altitude as the oceans) & hydroelectric dams do not exist in the game.
172.69.33.125 17:25, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

(Prior item is unsigned.) Worth a link to https://what-if.xkcd.com/143/ aroujd the subject of siphons? If nothing else, it shows that Randall knows how they work (even if there's confusion over whether BG does, or just has the laws of nature do what he thinks they should do, as per Vacuum Energy). 162.158.155.240 10:57, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Ordinary siphoning wouldn't work unless MOND or modified inertia dark matter theories are true. 172.68.141.146 18:25, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

So, does anyone know what a Colonial Engineer is? I'm unfamiliar with the term. A quick google search just turns up a plastic parts company and a minecraft mod and that's it.172.69.63.169 21:13, 27 June 2020 (UTC)